Alchemy in Chrono Trigger

[Magus068]

Alchemy is a science where one understands the structure of matter, breaks it down & then rebuilds it.  If used correctly, it can turn plain lead into gold.  However, since it is science, principle of nature still apply.   You can only create something of a certain mass from something with the same mass.  It is the principle of equivalent trade.
                                                                               -Prologue of the Fullmetal Alchemist

Have you ever consider that Melchior makes weapons without a smithy?  If you look at his house you'll only find a study in his basement instead of a smithy.  One possible explaination is that Melchior transmutes a certain object in to weapons instead of making or forging weapons.  If you observe closely about the event the masamune is fix & the only material he use is a mug, a dreamstone & the broken parts of the Masamune.  Lucca's action in fixing the Masamune seems like she's doing a ritual or enchantation proves my suspicion that they are not fixing the sword by normal means.  Another example that Melchior uses alchemy when he transmute the ruby knife into Masamune.
Magus probably knew alchemy when he uses human transmutation on Glenn.  As a side note magic only manipulates the forces of nature while alchemy breakdown matter & then rebuilds it.

[nightmare975]

Neat theory, maybe that was a part of Zealian power?

[Glennleo]

An alchemy twist is an interesting one. While I agree with Melchoir making the Masamune I still think Magus used magic on Glenn, but an interesting theory none the less.

[Chrono'99]

We must keep in mind that what we see Melchior and Lucca do is just the preliminary works though. Melchior says "Alright, let's get started" at the end of the scene, then the screen goes black and we jump directly to the moment when the repairing is finished. We don't see the actual repairing of the sword and how it is done. But of course, it's true that we don't see a smithy, a chimney, and those kind of things which should be needed, so... maybe.

[AuraTwilight]

Except that FMA didn't exist at the time of CT's publishing and development, and even then Alchemy is being used improperly.

In the history of science, alchemy refers to both an early form of the investigation of nature and an early philosophical and spiritual discipline, both combining elements of chemistry, metallurgy, physics, medicine, astrology, semiotics, mysticism, spiritualism, and art.

The lack of a smithy or a chimney doesn't mean anything. There's also a lack of a bathroom, bedroom, a stove...

[Magus068]

True, but how do you explain fixing the Masamune without any facilities or equipment? Or a Knife transform into a sword?

Seriously alchemy of our world is different to the chronoverse.

[AuraTwilight]

Magic, obviously. It does exist. Especially since the Masamune is made out of Dreamstone and has mystical qualities that allows it to break all sorts of physical laws.

[Zaperking]

It doesn't break any laws of physics because magic is the Chrono World's idea of physics. They break what seem to be our laws in OUR WORLD, but not in theirs.

[AuraTwilight]

Well duh, obviously.

[Magus068]

Magic, obviously. It does exist. Especially since the Masamune is made out of Dreamstone and has mystical qualities that allows it to break all sorts of physical laws.

Of course it's magic, alchemy is also a branch of sorcery.  Anything is possible since the Chronoverse is the mixture of science & magic.

[Chrono'99]

Seems like it's just a question of terminology. According to your definition of alchemy, some things in the Chrono series could be qualified as alchemical technics, but according to the series, these are magic stuff.

[Magus068]

I'm not convince that those are mere magic stuff.  Think about it...  Any respectable Magic Scholars in Zeal would classify the magic that they studied otherwise their research in magic would be in chaos.  Although there's no clear indication about it but the way they held their research caught my attention.  For instance, every room in Kajar had different research that they conducted. This probably indicate that  they studied various disciplines whether it is scientific or magical. 

And another thing...  There are lots magic that didn't belong to any 4 elements.  This made me think that there are more classification of magic than we ever think.

[AuraTwilight]

There's only four elements of Magic, but they can be combined in an infinite amount of combinations to reach any magical effect imaginable.

[Magus068]

Technically there are only 16 combinations not infinite but that theory doesn't explain which certain magic belongs to. For instance, Lavos' Dreamless, creation of the Masamune or the magic that causes the Zeal Kingdom to float.

[CyberSarkany]

There can be more than 16 combinations if you consider S-S-W(S dominates by 1) being different from S-S-S-W-W. The chain could have an infinit length.

Dreamless is an magic attack, can't be absorbed(as far as I recall) by any of the 4 elements o.m. alone, yet can be reduced by Magic Wall. It must be at least the same amount of 2 opposites, like 2 shadow and 2 heaven, so it doesn't actually do Shadow/Heaven damage(which can be absorbed), but non-elemental-magic-damage(=|= non-elemental damage which is done by stuff like tailspin or popoyo dance).
Or whatever